White House wants debt-limit hike by year-end

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Obama administration wants Congress to raise the U.S.'s borrowing limit by year-end, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday. "We...expect Congress to deal with the debt ceiling as part of an end-of-the-year deal," Carney said at the daily briefing. Congressional Republicans have rejected a White House idea to extend a procedure that allowed the debt limit to be raised three times in the past two years. Some Republicans think the fact that Congress is likely to need to raise the debt ceiling sometime in the first quarter gives them leverage in the deficit-reduction talks. On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said he is "absolutely" ready to go over the fiscal cliff if there is no deal that includes raising tax rates for the wealthy. Carney said that Geithner was simply reiterating prior statements that President Barack Obama "won't accept a bad deal," he said.

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